What is this?

tylerjgardner · March 25

Doing a steam boiler install and my co worker asked what this is. I said "no idea lol". Its a two pipe system and this is at the end of the re

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turns.

Jamie Hall · March 25

Dunham Return Trap for Dunham vapour steam system. It's in The Lost Art — look it up.

That system should be controlled with a vapourstat running at a cutout of 8 OUNCES per square inch or less.

tylerjgardner · March 25

Interesting. What are the consequences if I run it at 1.5 oz? The old system had the standard pressuretrol (same as this new system)

ethicalpaul · March 25

I think you mean your pressuretrol is set to 1.5 psi

That is way too much especially since most pressuretrols that are set to 1.5 actually cut out between 2 and 2.5 psi

(8 oz is .5 psi)

tylerjgardner · March 25

I mean 1.5 psi

KC_Jones · March 25

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1892836#Comment_1892836

If you sized the boiler correctly it shouldn't get to 1.5 psi, so it shouldn't matter. The vaporstat or pressuretrol are pressure safeties. On 2 pipe the sizing is extremely critical, I feel it's critical for all systems, but the 2 pipe are typically more sensitive to pressure, which is a function of boiler sizing. How did you size the boiler?

I agree with Jamie though, it should have a vaporstat to ensure it doesn't have a chance of getting out of hand.

tylerjgardner · March 25

So yeah I would LOVE to install a vaporstat, but the salesman won't want me to get a $500-600 part for this. Also the salesman sized this boiler- you guys are gonna love this- "the old one was this size so I got the same size boiler for this zone". Theres a lot of things I can see wrong with this install, but unfortunately I was told to just "slap in it exactly how the old was was". Im beginning to realize that the company i work for is the "knuckleheads" the Dan Holohan warns homeowners about lol.

Jamie Hall · March 25

You ask the consequence of running the boiler up to 3 times the desired pressure.

It won't heat as evenly (and indeed may be difficult or impossible to get anywhere near balanced). It may use more water than it should. Components such as radiator traps and the main vents will fail much sooner. It will use more fuel than it should.

AndythePlumber · March 26

what Jamie said….your company is snaring a unicorn in a bear trap so the salesman’s wife can purchase overpriced facial creams and various other vanity accessories. Before the big war hard men crafted what you’re looking at. Makes me sick. It’s not your fault. Quit your job

mattmia2 · March 26

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1892840#Comment_1892840

sort of. 2 pipe in some ways is more forgiving in sizing. you can undersize the boiler somewhat compared to the connected edr and have it still heat the whole system, in fact everything will be much happier with a slightly undersized boiler because it will never build appreciable pressure.

as for the op, you're going to have a rough time until you at least put the correct controls on the boiler and ideally use the right size boiler.

it isn't like the return trap and vapor valves on the radiators weren't there when the salesperson looked at it.

mattmia2 · March 26

what boiler was there before? you need to make sure things that need to be below the water line are still below the water line with the new boiler.

DanHolohan · March 26

What state are you in?

AndythePlumber · March 26

@tylerjgardner I want to apologize for the way that sounded. The quit your job part. I didn’t mean quit your job, because you’re no good. You did exactly what you should’ve when you found that device. It was meant towards your company. If they’re forgoing quality out of ignorance for profit, they don’t deserve you. Some of our best employees have came from our local “sales” type company. Myself included.

tylerjgardner · March 26

Thanks for the information guys. Im currently in Syracuse NY (this job is in Auburn NY). We get steam jobs maybe once or twice per heating season. No one knows anything about them in the company I work for, so its kinda up to me to do things correctly. Worst part is, I'm a service tech, but happen to be installing this system. So if things go wrong or dont heat, I'LL be the one that gets called out. The new boiler is the same foot print as the old one, the only difference is its like 10k btus bigger than the old system. So its one section wider. Its a Weil-McLain EGH-95

dabrakeman · March 28

Obviously nobody totaled the connected EDR. Could you do that so we know if or more likely how much it is oversized?

Don't quit, just think about starting your own company. I knew a kid 35 years ago who helped us out on some plaster crown molding work in a 1870's Italianate home we had back then. He researched how to do it on his own because it too had become as much as or more of a lost art. You wouldn't think there were too many homes with big plaster crown moldings needing work but he became a specialist at it and made a really good living since he was one of the few in the country who could do it.

pecmsg · March 28

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1892912#Comment_1892912

Theres many many jobs out there for that type of work!

Get your name into the supply houses.

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